"Please, have a seat, Lord Chen..."
Chen Qing nodded but still cautiously checked the surroundings.
"You can rest assured, my lord, this is the storage warehouse of the Governor-general's Mansion. We entered through the back door. I've been very careful along the way and nobody has seen us,"
Wei Gongcheng patiently explained, but inwardly he was quite puzzled. Was this man, who claimed to be a newly appointed Imperial Scholar, being too overly cautious?
If he was wary of the people inside the Governor-general's Mansion it would be one thing, but to be on guard even against ordinary citizens along the way, intentionally avoiding them, seemed extreme.
"Does the general think I'm being overly cautious?" Chen Qing sighed.
"I am somewhat puzzled, but I suppose there must be a reason for your cautiousness, my lord."
Upon hearing this, Chen Qing nodded. No wonder Wang Ye had recommended that before leaving, he should make contact with Wei Gongcheng first, rather than Weichi Peng.
This clearly differed from the rashness common among military men; he obviously was more suitable for plotting and arranging.
Such a person, meticulous and sensitive, was very unlikely to be replaced by Mister Hua Pi.
With this in mind, Chen Qing briefly recounted the entire situation.
The affair was complex, and even though Chen Qing was succinct, it still took him half an hour to explain. The other party listened very intently, and even though he was extremely surprised, he did not interrupt, which made Chen Qing even more satisfied.
"My lord, are you saying that a Thousand-Faced Fox has infiltrated the Capital City, and Lord Wang has fallen into the fox's scheme and his life and death is uncertain?"
After confirming that Chen Qing had finished speaking, Wei Gongcheng quickly asked.
"Yes..." Chen Qing nodded, "Lord Wang's prospects are grim indeed!"
"Then we should inform General Weichi immediately to go and rescue him!"
"That would be inappropriate..." Chen Qing shook his head. "If Lord Wang is still alive, there's only one possibility: Mister Hua Pi wants to turn him into a puppet to return to the Capital in order to assist the Thousand-Faced Fox in becoming the Crown Princess. To make a convincing puppet, the perpetrator would need to extract the flesh, bones, and organs of the victim. It has been more than a day since I came from outside the city, and it is very likely that Lord Wang has already been dissected. A hasty rescue might only reclaim a mutilated body!"
"This..." Wei Gongcheng suddenly stood up, "Flaying and deboning? How could one survive that?"
"There is a chance of survival!" Chen Qing said firmly. "Mister Hua Pi needs fresh internal organs to craft his human puppets, so he uses a secret medicine to ensure that the original body retains the faintest hint of life. Lord Wang still has a slim chance!"
"Where's the opportunity for survival?" Wei Gongcheng furrowed his brow tightly. If, as stated, the skin and bones had been removed, where would there be any chance of life?
Chen Qing's expression remained calm. If there truly was no hope, he couldn't say it outright, otherwise how could he persuade the other party to stay?
"The moment of completion!" Chen Qing said with grave earnestness, "To fabricate the perfect Lord Wang and deceive the Imperial Court, including His Majesty himself, the puppet must be extremely lifelike. Not only does the flesh need copying, but as Lord Wang is a Magician, even the brain core must be transplanted. The opportunity lies in the instant after the brain core is transferred. We must prevent the final step from being completed, otherwise... Lord Wang will lose himself."
Upon hearing this, Wei Gongcheng had a somewhat incomprehensible look. This young scholar knew a lot, not only was he aware that Lord Wang was a Magician but he seemed to have a thorough understanding of this so-called Mister Hua Pi!
Everyone knows that the bizarre monsters are only superficially recorded in the 'Record of Unusual Tales' from the previous dynasty. He had never read it, but he didn't believe the book would describe Mister Hua Pi in such detail.
Just what was the background of this young man?
But at this moment, that couldn't be the concern. He had an even more pressing question to ask: "The Mister Hua Pi you mentioned, my lord, can he truly create identical puppets just by obtaining the flesh of the living?"
"Yes..."
"How... how accurate are they?"
Chen Qing looked up at the tall figure before him and fell silent for a few seconds. He probably knew what the other wanted to ask.
"It seems the General has noticed..."
Wei Gongcheng's heart skipped a beat. Though he was prepared, he was somewhat unable to accept it.
"They are very realistic, but there will certainly be differences from the original person. Especially for a warrior, one would clearly feel an unnatural stiffness in the body. You must have seen it for yourself, haven't you?"
Wei Gongcheng's hands trembled slightly, and only after he clenched them hard and took a deep breath did he reply, "I have seen it!"
"Lord Wang was right; the General is indeed perceptive..." Chen Qing nodded, sincerely impressed. The person Wang Ye had recommended truly wasn't bad—being able to remain calm after hearing such explosive news, he was someone who could be entrusted with the plan!
"My lord!" Wei Gongcheng looked at Chen Qing earnestly. "Then... is there any way to save someone who has already been made into a puppet?"
Chen Qing, seeing the expectation in the other's eyes, shook his head slightly. This matter couldn't be meddled with carelessly, lest when he couldn't produce results, General Weichi might tear him to pieces...
"Is that so..." Wei Gongcheng closed his eyes and exhaled once more. His tightened hands relaxed, and when he opened his eyes they held the sharpness expected of a warrior: "What do you need me to do, my lord?"
"The enemy aims to create chaos during the Crown Prince's consort selection and to confound the masses, or perhaps simply embed the Thousand-Faced Fox into the Royal Family. Now that Lord Wang has been compromised, the only one in Lyuzhou who poses a public threat to them is General Weichi."
"Lord, do you want me to persuade General Weichi Peng to trust you and lead you back to Capital City?"
"That's not…it wouldn't make sense to kill our way back," Chen Qing shook his head, "Creating too much commotion would only give the Thousand-Faced Fox a reason to hide. But as long as the Thousand-Faced Fox remains unfound, the Royal Family will hesitate to choose a consort for the Crown Prince. Shall we keep dragging this out? His Majesty is getting on in years, and the Crown Prince is the foundation of our nation. If we delay the selection of his consort, chaos is bound to ensue!"
"Your considerations are thorough..." Wei Gongcheng nodded, a glimmer of approval in his eyes. He respected literati but not fools; now, seeing the young but prudent Chen Qing, Wei Gongcheng found a semblance of Lord Wang Ye in him, and this won him over somewhat.
"Now we can only meet trickery with trickery. First, we must use General Weichi Peng to divert their attention, then we'll search in secret for Mister Hua Pi who created Lord Wang's impostor. As long as we can save Lord Wang at the critical moment and capture that Mister Hua Pi, we'll have a chance to find the Thousand-Faced Fox!"
"Them?!" Wei Gongcheng was astonished, "From what you say, there seem to be quite a few of them?"
"What do you think?" Chen Qing scoffed cynically. "Since I can remember, Master Huang has been renowned far beyond Lyuzhou. It is said he has been there for over thirty years. How long has the Great Jin Dynasty been founded? With thirty years of operation and his special abilities, conservatively speaking, perhaps half of the officials in Lyuzhou are his puppets!"
Wei Gongcheng: "!!"
--------------------------------------------------
"How is it? Feeling any better?"
Deep in the mountains, fifty li from the outskirts of the city, near Daqing Mountain, many people were unaware that there was a natural hot spring hidden here.
Master Huang looked at Mr. Miao, who was recuperating in the hot spring, and asked with concern.
He had added a good deal of restorative medicine into the hot spring, but the potency of these drugs was fierce. Without careful attention, the old bones on the other side could be at risk of perishing.
"Have the clothes been burnt?" Mr. Miao took a deep, weak breath and asked.
Seeing that the other party had finally spoken, Master Huang breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "Do I need a reminder from you? Would I not fear that Ghost Doll catching the scent and coming after us?"
Mr. Miao nodded in response, "I am old. If I were twenty years younger, I would have been confident enough to seal that fiend."
"Why bother sealing it?" Master Huang chuckled mischievously, thinking that it would be better to have some chaos stirred up. Those fellows in Tiandu have become timider by the day—if no trouble is caused, they would probably never dare to come out in their lifetimes!
Mr. Miao shook his head with a smile; this fellow had lived for over a thousand years. Mr. Miao's own grandfather had known him, yet it felt as though his temperament was still as mischievous as a child's.
"What about General Weichi Peng? How is the situation?"
"The Bird Message Delivery came. There's no significant situation; the Ghost Doll has run away, and General Weichi Peng is so angry he's screaming and yelling. I heard he got his teeth beaten out, but the scenario we feared most hasn't come to pass—the man behind the scenes didn't manage to get in touch with Weichi Peng."
"Are you sure?" Mr. Miao frowned.
It would be unlikely for the other party to cause such a commotion with the Ghost Doll and do nothing else.
"Of course, I'm sure!" Master Huang laughed, "I've replaced the lieutenant generals around Weichi Peng with my own men. I even know when he takes a leak. Besides, knowing his personality, how could he keep secrets from his people?"
"Well, that's true..."
"Heh, Old Miao, what were you saying before you passed out?" Master Huang looked at him with amusement, "You said that Chen Qing released the Ghost Doll?"
"I have my suspicions..." Mr. Miao nodded slightly.
"You must be muddled!" Master Huang rolled his eyes at him, "You're an old Magician, shouldn't you know better than me how complex the Azure Dragon Seal is? Even if Chen Qing accidentally found the Azure Dragon Cave, how could an ordinary Scholar release the Ghost Doll?"
"But what if he isn't just an ordinary Scholar?"
"How could that be?" Master Huang scoffed at the idea, "My disciple has studied with me for two years and even Mirror Master said he was a mere mortal. He might fool me, but could he really fool Mirror Master?"
Mr. Miao fell silent. The theory was correct; the Mirror Demon recognized all beings in the world. No matter their level of cultivation, even those thousand-year-old monsters could not hide their true nature from the Mirror Demon.
"I just feel that Wang Ye has an extraordinary destiny, and the person he entrusted in his dire moments must not be so simple... Since you could read Wang Ye's memories, could you possibly discern his recollections of Chen Qing?"
Caught off guard, Master Huang fell silent for a while before responding, "I can't. I don't know why, either. I can read up to ninety percent of Wang Ye's memories, especially the recent ones, but the memories related to that Chen Qing are just unreachable, no matter how hard I try."
"Protected by Tianji..." Mr. Miao said, his expression darkening.
"Impossible!" Master Huang refuted impatiently, "It must be because Wang Ye himself subconsciously deemed those memories unimportant, so they were lost in the process of extraction. The business with the Ghost Doll must be some old codger from Tiandu stirring up trouble!"
"Is that so?" Mr. Miao furrowed his brows and looked at Master Huang's chest, "What do you think, Mirror Master?"
After a significant pause, a cold voice finally came from Master Huang's chest, "I am not mistaken. In the two years Chen Qing studied in Lyuzhou, he was a mere mortal, and after returning from Capital City... he was still a mere mortal!"
"Is that so?" Mr. Miao eventually nodded, accepting the answer.
But inside Master Huang's chest, the Mirror Demon had a strange feeling—he really wanted to say that something about that Chen Qing was off. But as a being recognized for its ability to discern all creatures, it didn't want to admit that it might have... been mistaken.